Chimacum Middle School
Mr. Al González, 6th grade Science
Teacher Commitment
Welcome to Mr. González’s 6th grade Science! I post news and deadlines on my website, http://educatoral.com/ so check it often to keep up with Science. My website is the best way to find out what your child is doing in Science. I see about 130 students everyday so I will only post general information about all my classes on the website as opposed to individual information about each student. If you need to contact me you can email me at . You can also call the school and leave me a message at 732-4219 or you can text me or leave me a voicemail at 360-453-7021. If you send a text message to 50500 and type educatoral as the message you will get a copy of business card texted back to you in case you lose the paper copy.
I will be putting a link on my website to your child’s progress in class and I update those online progress reports every three or four weeks (short assignments like homework, blog posts, etc I can update more frequently). I can also print progress reports for you whenever you need. At the midterm your child will receive a formal progress report but don’t worry, that is not a final grade. Final grades are posted at the end of each 12 or 13 week term. If your child keeps up with his or her work all our lives will be made easier. Rushing at the end of the trimester to catch up on missing work is not a habit we want to instill in our children.
My primary goal is to provide a student-focused environment where responsibility is practiced and all students are challenged and engaged in meaningful learning. I strongly believe that all students can be successful and learn Science. I do my best to provide exciting learning opportunities using the tools of the 21st Century. I incorporate technology into many of my lessons because technology is an excellent way for students to communicate, share and comment on what they are learning. I want my students to learn the way they learn best and the way that people learn and share information now. I am finding ways to have students use their cell phones in Science. Even though students can use home computers, laptops or cell phones and mobile devices they are not required to use any of those. If your child does not have a computer or the Internet at home and cannot stay after school to use my class computers or library computers assignments can still be turned in using paper and pencil. No need to buy anything, please!
I also recognize that students enter my classroom with an array of life experiences, including various exposures to scientific concepts. My objective is to gauge each student’s knowledge and preconceptions in order to plan rigorous lessons for students at all levels of understanding, focusing on the processes that will lead to future success in science studies. Students will not just conduct labs and experiments but they will learn how to use the scientific method to conduct their labs and how to write up their labs. Students will score each other’s lab write-ups to help them learn the process.
Student and Teacher Expectations:
In this classroom you will be given the privilege and the great responsibility to take a great deal of ownership over how your time is spent in class. Planning and managing your time and workload takes self-control and motivation. These skills are essential for student success in middle school, high school, and college, as well as being a contributing member of our society. Project-based learning is a great way to learn responsibility.
A lot of the work in Science will be done in teams. Your child is graded on how hard she or he works as well as on completing projects successfully. Each student has to do work for her/himself and for the group. If students do everything they are supposed to do, they will get a good grade based on what they do. If your child does that and puts forth effort, your child will do wonderfully in my class. The student that does less work in a group project will get a lower grade.
Effort counts for a lot in my book. My expectations are that all students write in full and complete sentences, that all students use details to back up what they write or say, and that all students treat each other well. Extra credit is always available for students who are caught up with all their class assignments or for students who need or want alternative assignments. Especially those who miss class.
If you’re interested here are some of the articles I’ve been reading this summer - http://delicious.com/educatoral/21stCenturyResearch
Course Description
This class will consist of experiences in the following curriculum:
I. Volcanoes
a. Mt. Saint Helens
II. Water Quality
a. Chimacum Creek
b. Salmon Life Cycle
III. Energy, Machines, and Motion
a. Forms of Energy, Forces, Simple Machines, and Motion
Grading Scale
Following is the grading scale that I will use for this year:
A+ 100% Excellent! Puts forth great effort as well as completing all assignments.
A 93%
A- 90%
B+ 89% Good job! Puts forth good effort as well as completing all or most assignments.
B 83%
B- 80%
C+ 79% Not bad! Puts forth some effort and completed some assignments.
C 73%
C- 70%
D+ 69% Needs improvement. Needs to put forth more effort. Did not complete enough assignments.
D 66%
F 59% or lower. Not trying to pass or purposefully trying to fail. We need to meet. Please email me.
Tests, labs, quizzes, and projects will receive a point score and a corresponding letter grade based on the percentages above. Class work and homework will also count into the overall grade. Tests are worth more than homework or class work, but projects are the most important and worth the most while labs are somewhere in between. Homework is worth the least so not doing homework cannot cause a student to flunk (unless the student is already flunking), but I encourage all students to do their homework because it will allow them to confirm their learning. Missing assignments that are done after the fact or copied, will receive a lower grade while assignments that are missing completely will receive a zero. So please turn in all your assignments even if they are late.
Al González
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(Cut here and return to teacher OR TEXT OR EMAIL ME with your child’s name.)
Student’s name ______[Re: Expectations & Grading Scale]
I have read the aforementioned ______
(Parent’s signature)
on ______
(today’s date).